Red card for veteran Loaring mars Officemaker's progress

NP Valencia 1, Officemaker 3

NORTH made it two wins in a week over Grand Fort Road neighbours Vale Rec as their second-string came out on top in a fierce quarter-final derby under the Corbet Field lights.

It was an entertaining encounter between two sides made up of many youngsters and both intent on playing good football.

Going under the name of NP Valencia, the home side nearly opened the scoring early on when Phil Solway burst through the Officemaker defence, only to see his effort smartly stopped by Tom Creed.

However, that was the bright spot of the first half-hour for Valencia, as their opponents took control of the tie with a double strike after 15 minutes. A wonderful whipped cross from Jon Loaring on the touchline picked out Bradley Atkinson unmarked in the area and the young midfielder duly headed his side into a deserved lead.

Valencia needed to regroup quickly, but they found themselves two down within a minute of the restart.

Mark Gauvain found himself with time and space on the edge of the area and although the quality of the defending was questionable, the finish wasn't. An emphatic side-footed shot past Phil Frampton gave the winger a goal that his fine first half performance warranted.